The electronic cover of Wen Huajian's popular microblog novel "Love in the Age of Microblogging". (Photo: Global Times)
BEIJING, June 7 -- The concept of microblogging, where an author writes 140 words of a novel then immediately sends it to subscribers' mobile devices, is gaining rapid momentum in China, with thousands of readers discovering the world's latest form of literature.
"It's concise, refreshing and easy to digest. You can even read it on your mobile phone," commented Zhou Qin, a subscriber of Wei Bo Shi Qi De Ai Qing (Love in the Age of Microblogging), a microblog novel by Wen Huajian.
Four months ago, Wen was inspired to write a love story by people he met on the Internet. The writer has published three paper novels and prose in the past, but this time he decided to write a microblog, adding 140 words at a time.
Wen published his novel's first installment on January 29 and invites subscriber interaction and suggestion. The narrative is currently at 250 posts, with the ongoing work attracting more than 23,000 readers.
"It's a natural progression of multimedia from people's desire to communicate, interact and share," Ji Yun, public relations manager at Sina Microblog told the Global Times.
Sina Microblog was launched in August, as an alternative to its blogging platform Sina Blog. Microblog allows post of only 140 characters or less at a time and enables readers to respond, comment and forward posts easily to their friends.
"I just need to click the button and all of my friends will get what I just received," Zhou explained. "Things travel at an incredible speed."
With the novel attracting widespread attention, Wen has become somewhat of a celebrity in the microblog community. His work has been acknowledged by the media and readers as the first microblog novel in China.
"My idea was simple," Wen told the Global Times. "I saw so many people turning to a short-form blog. They read posts through their cell phones on the subway and on the computer in their gray office cubicles. They are looking for something easy to digest, so I made my novel bite-able."
Wen is one of many choosing the microblog format. According to Ji, some authors are literature lovers who write for fun, some are journalists publishing information and others use the medium for product promotion.
Microblogs are also evolving into a phenomenon in other countries, especially Japan.
Two weeks ago, Discover21 publishing house in Japan launched its first Microblog Fiction Award, according to a report on cnBeta.com.
All applicants' manuscripts were limited to a story within 140 words. A user called bttftag was selected from 2,357 microbloggers, picking up the 50,000 yen ($545) award. Bttftag's work had no title and described romance in a small post office, showing unlimited possibilities, according to the judges.
Currently, subscribing to microblog novels in China is free, with Ji explaining that most writers post to gain notoriety or as a hobby.
Ji estimated that there are only a handful of microbloggers in China so far, with market potential in the genre very positive. "Mobile phone services and literature websites may be willing to buy and market it." Ji added.
Saying that he microblogs for fun, Wen explained that he enjoys reading stories from other bloggers and including them in his work, adding that writing a microblog novel has its challenges.
"Readers want to get a laugh out of the fewest words, so I have to make every word count," he said.
"I don't know when people started to call me da shu (uncle)," Wen's novel begins,"it is just like people have call the maid ayi (auntie). It has nothing to do with age."
In Wen's understanding, microblog novels should include people who microblog themselves, the things they talk about and the microblog language, including icons and emotions, that they use. He said that the most important thing is, every episode (140 words) must end with a cliffhanger or an open-ended question.
Kuang Jiangnan, a college student and long-term fan of Internet novels, has recently discovered microblog works. She said that the short and concise texts are a better fit for a busy life in an information age that works at an incredible rate of speed.
"I hate to say it but more people find it hard to stay focused for a long time; I see it happening to myself. I haven't sat back to read a lengthy novel for a few days. It's tiring."
Microblog novels are not only attracting the attention of students and young office workers. Jia Guiyuan, head of De Yun Wei Ye publishing company told the Global Times that publishers and edi-tors are also keenly tracking the genre.
"It's popular among young people and reflects people's real life. As life gets busier, people prefer to read something shorter," he said.
Others in the industry are not as optimistic.
"I see it as sort of a one-off fashion, that may disappear as the next appearance of media occurs," Zeng Wei, an editor with World Publishing Corporation told the Global Times.
"Plus, since the novel is so easy to access either via Internet or mobile phone, what is the point of getting it published?" (By Jiang Wanjuan) |
